Solace
by NeverMessWithTeddyBears
Summary: He snaps his fingers and the world around him goes white.


**Solace**

* * *

He snaps his fingers and the world around him goes white.

When he next opens his eyes, his body is different. No longer is he eight feet tall and as wide as two men; instead, he's back to being _Bruce_, looking at his hands and feeling his fingers on his face and it feels so surreal, so fascinating - a deeper meaning probably hidden somewhere underneath its surface but he has no will, no time, no energy to figure it out now, so exhausted to even ask - but all thoughts go away as soon as he looks around and sees her.

Natasha.

His voice breaks at her name and he can't believe she's there, alive, real - or maybe not? - looking at him with that look in her eyes he doesn't think he'll ever deserve. And Bruce remembers, then, his first and main thought as he'd snapped his fingers; one that lead everyone else to be back, too.

_Bring her back to me._ he thought. Natasha. _Bring her back._

"You know it doesn't work like that." her eyes are teary and he tries not to think how often he truly saw her like that. Bruce knows her - and it's one of the greatest joys in his life, having known her - and sometimes he thinks he knows her better than he knows himself, better than anyone else would know her. Knows all her different smiles, knows the most subtle shift of emotion in her eyes and on her face, knows how her voice sounds whispered in his ear late at night. Knows so much it breaks his heart to think he'll never know anything more. "I can't come back, Bruce."

"I know." his voice keeps breaking, the emotions overwhelming him, and he can finally find it in himself to move towards her, can finally remember how to use his limbs to cup her cheeks with his hands. He's never forgotten how to look at her with his eyes, how to take in her every feature. It is effortless to love her, still. "But I refuse to believe it."

Her hand covers his, and Natasha leans into his hand on her cheek. "I knew what I was doing."

"I know."

"I made my choice."

"I _know_."

"Bruce." she whispers. His heart is torn to shreds. He can feel it. "I love you. But I can't go back."

He can feel the tears fall down his cheek. "I've wasted so much time, Nat." he says and suddenly it's all he can think about. Time. How much has passed, how much he's wasted, how much he has left. The laws of the universe work differently in the stones, and he knows that however he is experiencing it now is far from linear, but also knows that no matter how much time he gets with her now it will never be enough. It could never be enough. "When all I've ever wanted was to be happy. To be with you."

She sighs, a shaky breath leaving her. He knows that, too. "This is the only sad ending we've ever had, _moye serdtse_." she tells him, emphasising the words as if she needs him to understand, to never forget. She cups his cheeks, too, and wipes the tears from his face with her thumbs, lets her own fall. A smile is on her face, pure adoration in her eyes. It makes Bruce's whole chest hurt. "We have had so many happy ones. So many different universes, different choices, ripples in the water that would change the stream of the river. But in every single one, we are together,_ moya lyubov'_. Somehow, we find each other, and we are in love, and we are happy. _So _happy."

Bruce shakes his head. "I want to be happy with you _now_." he says. "Can I... Can I stay here? Can I stay with you."

"Your job isn't over yet." she says, their foreheads touching. Her breath warms his face and he never wants it to be over.

"I want it to be." Bruce sighs.

Natasha leans in and kisses him, and he can feel his entire body set on fire. Bruce's hands go around her face to pull her in closer. He never wants to let her go, wants her to melt into him and never leave. Home is where she is. Where is he supposed to go?

When their lips part, she settles into his hug. "Fight, _moye vse_." she whispers into his ear. "You will see me soon."

When Bruce opens his eyes, she is gone. The world is no longer white.

Instead, there is chaos.


End file.
